


Lord of the Shoe

by Cesare



Series: Dog and Tiger [2]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Kids, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Babysitting, Kid Fic, M/M, teen!Erik, wee!Charles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-18
Updated: 2012-09-18
Packaged: 2017-11-14 13:45:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/515827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cesare/pseuds/Cesare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When he looked over, though, Charles was covering his face with a throw pillow, asking, {{Is it over?}}</p><p>"Is what… you’re scared of <em>this</em> movie? Seriously?"</p><p>Inspired by <a href="http://codenamecesare.tumblr.com/post/31800616902/lynneh9-so-this-idea-goes-to-the">Lynneh9's adorable drawing</a> of teen!Erik and wee!Charles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lord of the Shoe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lynneh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynneh/gifts).



If he'd been paying closer attention, Erik probably wouldn't have been so surprised, but he'd seen this movie a million times; he'd drifted into flipping through his copy of Lord of the Flies, thinking about whether he needed to reread it for English class. In fact, he'd been thinking that even though he liked the book when he first read it three years before, he wasn't sure he wanted to read it again now and have all that stuff about violent kids vivid in his head when he was spending time around Charles. When he heard Charles breathe in, sharp and startled, he thought Charles had picked up something from him about the book.

When he looked over, though, Charles was covering his face with a throw pillow, asking, {{Is it over?}}

"Is what... you're scared of _this_ movie? Seriously?" Erik tried not to laugh, but there wasn't much point hiding that kind of thing from Charles, who almost couldn't help but know. "You were going on about how I should let you play Silent Hill because you were so sure it wouldn't scare you, and you're freaked out by Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"

Charles lifted his head to scowl at Erik, still keeping the pillow up to block his view of the screen. "The shoe didn't even do anything!"

"Oh, man, I forgot about that part." The scene where the villain grabbed a cartoon shoe and disintegrated it in acetone... that _was_ messed up. He glanced at the screen. "You can look, it's over."

Charles's mouth turned steeply down. "I don't want to watch it anymore."

"Nothing like that happens for the rest of it, I'm pretty sure." Erik stopped the movie anyway. "I mean, they threaten some characters with that stuff, but no one else gets hurt by it. They only do it to the shoe to show you that the chemicals can do that, so the action scene at the end is more exciting. It's just a movie, you know that."

{{They put eyes on it!}} Mind-to-mind, Charles's feelings were so clear: horrified, indignant, a little angry. {{It had eyes and it made noises like it _hurt_ and it looked _afraid_ and everybody just stood around and let the bad guy kill it.}}

Erik rested his hand on Charles's head, petting his hair back, feeling the slight curve of his skull under his palm. Sometimes it was hard to believe that someone this little was such a complete person already, all those thoughts and opinions and big emotions in this tiny kid, small even for six.

{{You keep thinking that,}} Charles sent peevishly.

{{It keeps being true. Sorry, but you are kind of shrimpy.}} Erik offered, {{It's not a bad thing. If you were bigger I probably couldn't pick you up.}} He knew Charles liked that; sometimes his stronger feelings spread out from him, like they really were too big to be contained in a six-year-old frame. He bled out a little happiness whenever Edie or Erik picked him up.

{{Well, it's fun,}} Charles answered his thoughts. {{Someday I'll be bigger, and I'll pick _you_ up, and you'll see.}}

Erik laughed. {{Someday you'll be bigger, but I don't think you're ever going to be bigger than me.}} Both his parents were on the tall side, and he was already the third tallest kid in his class at his new school.

{{I won't have to be bigger than you. Just big enough.}} Charles folded his legs under him and leaned against Erik's side, hugging the throw pillow against his chest now, closing his eyes. {{You can read your book. I don't mind scary things from you.}}

{{Except for cartoons.}}

"Be nice," Charles mumbled out loud.

Erik did leaf through the book some more, making sure he remembered enough of it to pass a quiz. But Charles's drowsiness was outsized too, radiating out from him, and he was a warm dense weight against Erik's side; it wasn't long before Erik was appropriating a throw pillow of his own, stuffing it behind his head and settling down for what he and Charles both insisted they were too old to call a nap.


End file.
